reviews

​Shemekia Copeland (from the album America’s Child available on Alligator Records)

America’s Child is a statement. Shemekia Copeland a musical manifesto for her recent release… songs with a conscience, less a message than a presentation of facts. The stories identify who we are as a country, as a united people, joining together by citing our differences in Mary Gauthier/John Hahn’s tune “Americans” and providing a how-to guide to ‘live in a world gone wild’ with “Ain’t Got Time for Hate” as America’s Child wears its lineage like a skin for “In the Blood of the Blues”. Shemekia Copeland is a force of nature on America’s Child, striding with confidence into each song, proudly standing up for her own female freedom on the roadhouse rhythms of “The Wrong Idea” as she puts individuality on a pedestal with her version of The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everybody Else”.

Musically, the sound is a meeting ground for Country and Blues and as Shemekia Copeland shows the way with her words, the backing of America’s Child supports the singer with its own bite and snarl. Not a hybrid that hints at the styles as an influence, guitar licks wind through Blue confessions in Promised Myself” while string band wanderings become the foundation for the Soulful food wisdom of another Mary Gauthier track, “Smoked Ham and Peaches”. Will Kimbrough is the producer for America’s Child, his hand allowing the two distinct styles to exist in a true partnership, establishing a soundscape where Country meets Blues on equal footing. Guests lined up for the recording, Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, and J.D Wilkes contribute to the project, Steve Cropper lending guitar work on a cut written by Shemekia’s dad, Johnny Copeland (“Promised Myself”). Helping out as songwriters, America’s Child makes room for tracks from Kevin Gordon/Gwil Owen (“One I Love”), Oliver Wood/John Hahn (“Such a Pretty Face”), and John Prine/Michael Campbell, John joining Shemekia Copeland in the duet for his song “Great Rain”..